The threat of Darkness
by SailorEevee
Summary: If the digidestined lost, what would the world be like? Ken is living in that what if, and trying his best to survive in a world of fear and darkness. But when a stranger appears on the threshold of his excuse for a life, he is offered a chance to change
1. My so-called life...

Threat of Darkness  
by Sailor Eevee  
  
  
It's over. Everything we tried...failed. The digital world is gone. Destroyed in an explosion that rocked even this planet. I'm sure it was an impressive explosion. I can only hope that my friends died fighting. I'll probably never know, due to the fact that I was unwillingly removed from the fight. I never saw any of them again. Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, Taichi, Yamato, Hikari, Takeru, Mimi, Sora, Koushiro, and Jyou. All gone..gone with their digimon and the whole digital world. Not that I'm much better. The Earth is a digimon's home now. They ran here to escape the explosion, and just took over. The virus digimon rule now, and humans are just slaves. Me? I'm less than a slave. No self-respecting digimon would ever take a digidestined, even if his digimon is dead. No, I'm just dirt. A part of the gray rocky lanscape that was once the proud city of Tokyo.   
I hide in the shadows, waiting for a scrap of food to fall my way, or a dirty rag to float towards my waiting hand. That is the only way I can survive. If a digimon saw me however, I would be dead. I was lucky when they first came. Wormmon was with me then, and passed me off as his slave. Someone suspected, and one of the digimon's slaves came forward with a gun. He shot, but I looked up to find the limp body of Wormmon on me. He took the bullet meant for me. I suppose making me only half a man was enough punishment then. I suppose I force myself to survive because of Wormmon, and the sacrifice he made to ensure that I did survive.   
A noise startled me, and I ducked into my hiding place, watching and waiting. Two digimon walked up, pulling a struggling figure behind them. That was very odd. There aren't many humans around anymore who struggled, but then again, it could be a half-digimon. The two digimon pulling him stopped for a moment, and started shooting their attacks at him, I guess just for fun. I had had enough. I just couldn't watch the poor person die, human or not, I would help him.  
I used the light of my digivice to blind them, then pulled the person away. He was big and muscular, so I had a hard time of it, but I managed to hide him sufficiantly enough. While the digimon loked around for their missing captive, I studied him. He was a powerful-looking person, with blue striped hair and amber eyes. He wore a fur jacket, which surprised me, for no one wore fur anymore. He came to and sat there for a while, eyes never leaving me. He finally spoke, in a gravelly voice, "Thank you." I replied, "No problem. The digimon won't bother with me anyway, so It's nice to get to talk to someone. How'd you live free for so long? I'm only here because I'm a digidestined, and no digimon will take me." The persons eyes widened, and then he noticed my D-3. "A...digidestined...You would know..where Matt is then." I pulled away, confused and shocked at this recognition. "How do you kow Yamato?" I asked, trying to keep as calm as possible. The person stared at me for a moment, then slowly said "I am Garurumon." I stared hard at him, trying to figure how such a dramatic change can occur in a digimon such as he. He continued slowly. "I was captured by digimon, and changed by them because I helped Matt. I'm no better than a human slave now. My only wish is than I get to see Matt again. Is he still alive?" I shook my head sadly. "I don't know. I've never seen him since the fight. I'm sorry." Garurumon slumped against a rock, his bright eyes now downcast with grief. "Who are you?" He finally said, looking for a distinguishing feature through the dirt and rags covering my bony, malnourished body. "I am Ichijoji Ken." I stated, the sound of my name sounding unfamiliar to me. He nodded and whispered, "The missing one. Why did you leave the fight? We may have won." I winced at this accusation, but he didn't sound that confident. " Um...you need a name. I just can't call you Garurumon all the time. How about....Garu?" I said, changing the subject. He thought about it for a while, but finally decided. "Sure, that will work I guess. I don't know much about human names."   
"Good." I said, just happy that I had managed to change the subject, and that I had someone to talk to. It gets boring in hiding without someone to be with you. Besides, Garu would know how the battle went. He was there. He noticed me thinking, and quickly added, "I don't know how the fight with MaloMyotismon went. I was tossed out early, like you. MaloMyotismon threw me into the dimensional rip that you fell through. When I came to, I was here."  
I sighed, realizing again that I would never be able to know what happened during the fight. The last thing I remembered was when the older digidestined came to help. Then I was cast out. If only someone else had survived...but that was not possible. I would have seen them. Through my wanderings I had traveled every inch of this broken city, and I saw no others like me. It was a hard existance.   
Suddenly Garu jumped up, alerting me. I heard a scratching sound, similar to the sound of claws scraping against stone. The two digimon guards were walking down through the rubble, turning over rocks and dirt, probably looking for me and Garu. Garu looked at me, and I looked around. There was no place to run. We had to fight. I got up slowly, still concealed in the shadows, and nodded to Garu. He jumped on one of them, a big Tyrannomon, and started slashing at him with his sharp, nonhuman nails. I got out of the rubble and used my digivice again, a useful, if not offensive weapon. It blinded them, leaving them open to Garu's attacks. The one thing we could not stand against however, was the power of the digimon's attacks. The Tyrannomon guard regained his senses long enough to shoot at me. it slammed me against a wall, giving a distinct cracking sound that I knew to be the breaking of my own ribs.  
Garu howled and slammed into the digimon, giving me time to painfully slink back into the shadows. He jumped over to me and stood, growling, in a fighter's pose. The digimon looked at each other, and at an unknown signal, shot their attacks. I was ready to die, but I saw a bright light, and then fell to the darkness.  
When I came to, Garu was sitting next to me, staring all around him, as if surprised by his surroundings. I got up and looked around to see a beautiful meadow around us where rocks and pavement should've been. Trees glitteres in the sun, a sight I had not seen since my trips to the digital world. The grass underfoot was soft and healthy, proving that we weren't in Tokyo anymore. I got up my nerve to speak. "Where are we?" I asked, looking questionably at Garu. he shrugged, than stared at me. I knew what he was staring at. The blood from my wounds had soaked through the thin rags I wore, and was dripping onto the ground.   
"I have to find help. You look real bad." He said, turning away from the sight of my lifeblood on the grass. "I feel awful." I said, then darkness converged on me, and I passed out once more.  



	2. A new world

I'm pretty sure I came out of my coma twice. The first time, I felt like I was flying, a very unusual situation, but I slipped back a few minutes later. When I fully awakened, I was in a long gray room, somewhat like a cell. Garu was gone, but my chest was burning with pain so much that I couldn't find the strength to call for him. It felt like my whole body was on fire, but as I said, I could not find the strength in me to cry for help.Then I noticed that I was not alone. A girl was standing at the far side of the room, watching me with great intrest. Her bright red hair gave her a look of mischief, while her sparkling green eyes followed my tiny movements.  
She smiled, sure that I was aware of her presence. "Nice that you're awake." She said, her voice as bright and wiry as her hair. "You're certainly a mess. Good thing Shiro found you on his patrol. I think you would have died out there without some kind of care. Especially for your chest." She motioned, causing me to notice how my chest was now bound and bandaged, a sharp contrast to the torn and bleeding look. "Where am I?" I whispered, suffering from the pain of speaking. She cocked her head, animal like, and sighed. "I didn't think you were from around here. No one wears such clothes here." She pointed at my torn and bloody rags. "This is the kingdom of Terion, ruled over by my Lord Markam. I am Lady Lerana, a glider. What clan are you from?"  
I just stared at her, confused by the information she had given me. "I'm not of a clan. I'm not from here. I don't even know what you are talking about. I'm to guess this isn't Earth then?" She jumped back, shaking fiercely and gasping. "You are of the Digimon Empire then?" She hissed, drawing out a long knife quickly. I shook my head nervously, very sure that she knew how to use the knife. "No! I'm a part of the resistance...or...I was when the resistance existed. I'm all human." I said, seeing her manner ease. "There was a resistance? I'm terribly sorry, I just was afraid. No wonder you were so banged up. I think I'll explain our culture a little bit, so you aren't confused. We bond with animals you see, and my clan rides giant hawks and eagles, so we are called gliders. There are the horsemen, the wolfriders, the liontamers, the dolphinswimmers, and the dragonriders. The dragonriders are the most powerful in magic, and the strongest in battle. They fight for Terion. There are, of course, other kingdoms on Eyron, you know."   
I jumped, suddenly realizing the real trouble I was in. Another world! I quickly asked her "Have you seen a man with a fur jacket and white, blue striped hair around? He's my friend, and I need to talk to him." She smiled again, and replied, "Not until we fix you up. You look awful. I'll have Shiro find you something to wear and check you bandage. He's the one who found you, and very strong in magic, so he should be able to tell if you're okay. SHIRO!" She cried, her voice carrying through the stone halls of the building we were in. Soon I heard the sound of boots running up stairs. A young man burst into the room, dressed in bright robes and sparkling jewelry, as Lerana. He wore a small circlet with a large cut sapphire in the middle, and rings and bracelets everywhere else. He even wore earrings. All were bestowed with the same stone, a sapphire. Lerana's jewelry had all the same stone in them too. They were jade. On closer inspection of Shiro however, it wasen't his jewelry that made me aware of him, it was the blonde hair and deep blue eyes that alarmed me.  
Sure, he had a long scar down the side of his face, and he was a bit stronger of build, but there was no mistaking the smirk that came across his face. "Yamato?" I croaked, becoming aware once again that my voice was bad. There was no recognition. He just stared at me and turned to Lenara, whispering something to her. He then turned back to me and said, "If you come with me I can get you some clothes, and your wounds need to be checked. We have your friend, and you can meet up with him later." Lerana helped me rise, and I shakily followed Shiro down the stairs. The similarities between Shiro and the friend that I once knew plagued me. The same basic body shape was there, as were the color of hair and eyes. I could see the scar coming from a digimon's attack, so I was firmly convinced that he was Yamato.   
While we walked, I could tell Shiro was staring at me, perhaps out of recognition, or maybe of curiosity. He finally talked to me in a room with garments and a bed. "Who are you? Why did you call me that strage name? I've never heard anything like that before." My hopes sunk, but I was still certain that Shiro was Yamato. I tried again. " My name's Ken. Are you sure no one's ever called you Yamato before? Even when you were little?" He stared at me, a look of pure confusion on his face. "No...I can't remember. My memory only goes to about five months ago. I'm sorry, I think you have mistaken me for someone else."   
I sighed, turning to the rack of clothing. All of it was strange to me, but anything was better than what I had. I chose a black shirt with a purple leather vest over it, with black slacks. When I washed my face, It was like I was a different person, with features and color instead of just dirt. I also found a pair of soft boots for my sore and wounded feet. Shiro just leaned against the wall, with a look of pure boredom that gave away who he really was, even if he didn't realize it. Garu would though, so I asked to talk to him again. Shiro took me to another room, where Garu sat, also in the bright clothes favored by the Terions.   
"Ken!" Shouted Garu, relived that I was alive. He walked over to me and started giving me too many questions to answer. "Hold on!" I insisted, grabbing Garu by the shoulders and directing his gaze toward the silent Shiro. "Does he look familiar to you?"  
"Y...Yamato.." stuttered Garu, trying to move over towards him.  
"Shh! He dosen't remember anything! I think he's got amnesia or something."  
"He'd come back to his senses after he saw me!"  
"He didn't remember anything Garu! Just give it up. We'll help him someway." I insisted. Garu just nodded sadly, his eyes never leaving the figure of Shiro leaning against the wall. He growled softly under his breath than turned to me again. "So...what sould we do?" He asked, looking to me for answers. I shook my head and shrugged, unsure. Then an idea came to me. "Garu, we could ask these people for help! They seem friendly enough, and hate the digimon. I think we could get a few to help. Maybe we can stop the digimon then!" Garu's eyes brightened at the suggestion, and I called Shiro over. When I asked him, he shook his head. " I am afraid this kingdom will not help you. There are too many that have been killed to risk fighting the digimon again. But if you wish, I will confer with Lady Lerana to see what can be done. There is a dinensional rip in the field where I found you. I can take you there and you can return to your own world tomorrow. I'll see if anyone will help you." With that, Shiro left.  
The next day, I awoke to a tray of breakfast and a note saying that I was to meet Shiro outside. I woke Garu, ate, than went outside. The building we had been in was obviously a castle, with a wide courtyard and huge towers. When I went out, I jumped, for out there sat a great blue dragon, waving its great wings and crying. Sitting upon its neck was Shiro, rubbing the dragon's great neck. When he noticed me, he called out. "Ken! Hurry up, we need to leave now. Someone's waiting for us at the rip." Garu was already on the back of the dragon, and motioned for me to join him. I climbed up, unsteadily slipping from side to side on the wide dragonback. "Let's go Selece." Shiro commanded and the dragon rose into the air, heading toward the rip that would take us home.  
  
  
  



	3. A choice

We circled around the meadow twice before landing. I got off and was about to walk through the rip when a great scream cut through the air. A giant bird, perhaps a hawk, landed next to Shiro's dragon. The Lady Lenara leaped off her mount's neck gracefully, running over to me and Garu. "Ken...wait..can I come with you? I want to help. It's my duty after all. Shiro will help also." Shiro jumped at this, obviously not expecting her comment. " Lenara! Markam will be furious at us! Is this wise?" She stared angrly at Shiro, defying him. "I want to help, and you will too." Then she looked at me, somewhat fondly, but quickly turned to her hawk. "Ken, Garu, would you like to ride with me? Selece needs to be able to fight, and my Tyryn can carry all of us." I nodded, and mounted the great hawk Tyryn.  
Garu climbed up right behind me, and the hawk flew right into the rip, Selece and Shiro following. We burst into the air above the ruined city of Tokyo, amid the dark and heavy storm clouds. I heard Lenara gasp as she saw Japan's ruined capital. "Lenara, it was much better..before the digimon came." I said, putting my hand on her arm to steady her. She was so used to her beautiful world that she was scared by the dark and broken scene before her. I looked down, mourning for my fallen home, when I saw a small cave off the coast. "That cave...I've never seen that before." I muttered, causing Lenara to lean down and look herself. "I sense something there, something like...magic!" She whispered, alerted. Garu looked down and sighed. "Long way down...I'm not that good with heights..." He shook slightly, then regained his poise. After all, he was the only representative of a digimon there, and I suppose he wanted to make an impression.  
Shiro and Selece circled around the cave once, then looked up at us. "I think we should check this out." Shiro said, pulling Selece around in another circle. " I sense something," he added. Tyryn also started to circle down, finally landing on a strip of land across from the cave. Selece landed next to us, and Shiro, Lerana, Garu, and finally I swam across. When I stepped into the cave, I was hit with a wave of power, and a kind of attractive call. It was like something in the cave was calling to me. A soft white glow glittered in the back of the cave, and when I saw it I knew it was the thing calling for my attention.  
I stepped forward, ignoring the calls of warning from Lerana and Garu, for I was in a type of trance. My mind was only directed by the incessant call. Finally I saw it, a large bright white stone on a pedistal. Garu was close behind me, and I heard him gasp, for he noticed the design carved on the stone was the crest of Reliability. "What are you doing?!" Hissed Shiro, grabbing my shoulder from behind and turning me toward him. I tried to talk to him, but my body just turned back and pulled away. I could only watch helplessly as I walked closer to the omnious glow. I climbed up a small staircase, and stared at the stone. It seemed to glow brighter somehow, as if it was eager to have me near. "Ken, stop!" Garu called, but it was too late. My hands caressed the cold glowing crystal, and everything went a bright, shining white. Lerana, Shiro and Garu were gone, replaced by a soft white world.  
A shape appeared in the foggy distance, becoming darker and more recognizable as it walked closer. I was back in control of my body, but I couldn't move. As the shape approached, painful memories surfaced from my mind, of a blue haired, glasses wearing member of the digidestined. Finally he stopped, giving me a clear view of his calm face and tall figure. "Jyou?" I asked, hoping he was, yet scared. "Hi Ken." Jyou smiled a little, his form shimmering in the fog and smoke. "I guess I need to get started. If you haven't already figured it out, MaloMyotismon killed me. This is my spirit talking to you. Gennai imprisoned me here, along with a type of energy. You have to fight me to be able to use it."   
"Fight you?" I said. Jyou just nodded. "I can't belive this..." I whispered under my breath. My mind was working, trying to figure out any reason, any at all, for this. I came up blank. "You need the power Ken. You can't take the digimon on without it." Jyou said, still walking toward me. I went through my pockets, searching for anything that could help me. I came up with nothing. I just stood, ready for the onslaught of pain. I've never been much of a fighter.  
  
-------------------SHIRO'S POV  
  
The light was so bright it was painful. A huge sense of power shone with it, like the power that Lenara had sensed earlier. She was trying to get near, to save Ken I guess. I think she's become slightly fond of the kid. Me? I'm not so sure. Every time he looks at me he looks sad, like I'm dying and I don't know it. Garu's worse, looking like he was wounded when said I didn't know him. Every time I talk to them, my mind goes berserk, giving me images, voices, things I'm sure I've never seen. Then there are the dreams I had last night. A monster...then a voice calling, screaming....a wolf, only white and blue....and a flash. I was in tumoil, until Lenara's screech brought me back to the present. "Shiro! Something's wrong, I know it! Ken...he just fell like he had been hit...he's bleeding, Shiro. Do something, please! I tried, but he's somewhere that won't let me in. I heard a voice that said only a chosen child may enter. I don't know what's going on, but you could try."  
"Right." I said, fighting my way through the barriers arund Ken. I didn't want to, but Lenara was my lady, and so I must. A voice came to me then, one from my memories. "Child of fear and darkness, thy broken memories bring you pain. Come no further, chosen child, the Kaiser does battle with the reliable one." I stopped my magic for a moment, puzzling over what I had heard. Broken memories? Kaiser? It spoke again, silencing my thoughts. "Thy compassion may still find thee. Your fight to protect the Kaiser will manifest." The real word came back to me as I looked up at Lenara's worried face. "Are you okay Shiro?" I got up, still wondering what had happened. What did it mean?  
  
-------------------KEN'S POV  
  
"Jyou, stop, I don't want to fight you!" I cried, but it had little effect. He battered away at me with a power and eagerness I had not expected from him. I could feel the blood running down my many wounds. I would die soon, killed by a person I thought of as a friend. A voice startled me, suddenly my pain was gone, replaced by a commanding voice. "The Kaiser cannot fight without a weapon then? Very well, thy charm has won a friend." The pain returned, but with it, a sense of confusion and finally horror. As I moved to avoid Jyou's attacks, something heavy tugged at my back. The energy tore through something, but not my skin, fabric of blue and black. My sight twisted, changing a bluish purple, like I was looking through.....glasses. I knew what came next. As Jyou passed by me, I reached to my belt and pulled the one weapon I really knew how to use. A second later, Jyou was nursing a long lash down his side. I stared at the whip in my hand for just a moment before I attacked again and again, more cuts appearing on Jyou's body.  
He stopped, and I stopped too, the sweat and exhaustion of hard fighting finally setting in. Despite his many wounds, Jyou looked happy. "You have set my spirit free Ken. You have more to fight, many more. You will find the strength within yourself and your friends to complete this. I may not say more, but only give you this. Good luck." My head suddenly swam and as I fought off the dizziness I thought I saw Lerana, Shiro, and Garu above me. I could not fight for long though, the darkness closed in.  
  
-------------------SHIRO'S POV  
  
I stared at Ken, his face sweaty and bloody, yet as far as I'd seen, nothing had touched him. Lerana was moaning, trying to get him to awaken. She was afraid he was dead. I would've thought so too, if I hadn't felt so sure that he wasn't. I had just turned towards the entrance to leave when I noticed the necklace around his neck. It had a shining white stone on it, with a design carved into it. I bent down to study it, but was interruped by a snarl from Garu.  
"You rats think you can hide from digimon in a cave? Foolish slaves." A great beast stood at the entrance, covered in armor and carrying a great sword. "You have a digidestined," it said, staring intently at Ken. "Two. What a find!" He suddenly said, looking at me the same way. "Yoy all will die then. Slaves don't do after assosiating with Digidestined." I stepped in front of Lerana. "I'd rather die then let you take her." I hissed, summoning energy and forming it in my hands. The digimon shrugged. "Die then."  
  



End file.
